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The sport that evokes more nostalgia among Americans than any other is baseball. So many people play the game as children (or play its close relative, softball) that it has become known as "the national pastime." It is also a democratic game. Unlike football and basketball, baseball can be played well by people of average height and weight.

Baseball originated before the American Civil War (1861-1865) as rounders, a humble game played on sandlots. In 1871 the first professional baseball league was born. By the beginning of the 20th century, most large cities in the eastern United States had a professional baseball team. The teams were divided into two leagues, the National and American; during the regular season, a team played only against other teams within its league. The most victorious team in each league was said to have won the "pennant;" the two pennant winners met after the end of the regular season in the World Series. The winner of at least four games (out of a possible seven) was the champion for that year. This arrangement still holds today, although the leagues are now subdivided and pennants are decided in post-season playoff series between the winners of each division.

Baseball came of age in the 1920s, when Babe Ruth (1895-1948) led the New York Yankees to several World Series titles and became a national hero on the strength of his home runs (balls that cannot be played because they have been hit out of the field). Over the decades, every team has had its great players. One of the most noteworthy was the Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson (1919-1972), a gifted and courageous athlete who became the first African-American player in the major leagues in 1947. (Prior to Robinson, black players had been restricted to the Negro League.)

"Why do you love baseball?"

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter: "I think because everybody can relate. You don't have to be seven feet tall; you don't have to be a certain size to play. Baseball is up and down. I think life's like that sometimes, you know. Back and forth, up and down, you're going through this grind. I think people like watching it. Baseball's like a soap opera every day."

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard: "I think it's just the overall atmosphere: to be able to come out in the summer, nice weather -- you can bring your kids and make it a family event. People just can come out and have fun."

Cyn Donnelly, 38-year-old Boston author of Red Sox Chick, the most popular fan-written MLBlog: "I love baseball because my parents love baseball and even as a kid I knew it could be something that connected us no matter what else was going on in our lives. I love watching young players come up, I love watching mediocre players do well, even if only for a game. I love watching a struggling player come out of a slump. I love seeing the unexpected, which happens an awful lot in baseball. Unlike any of the other major sports, baseball gives a team many chances to do well. In a three-game series with the opposing team, you can lose one game and still come out of the series up. It makes every minute of the game 'important'. Baseball is a wonderful diversion from my real life. Especially when my real life isn't going quite the way I planned."

Wishing You a Happy Passover and a Happy Easter

In This Issue

Alzheimer's Disease May Be More Prevalent Among African Americans

Improving Cognition Later In Life Through Physical Activity

A Failing Mind May Mean Lower Cancer Death Risk

How Minnesota Could Save $966 Million On Alzheimer's Care

Alzheimer's Store Featured Product

Recipe Of The Week

Newsletter Promotions

Events Calendar

Trivia Questions

Information On Clinical Studies

"I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw." - Willie Mays

"If I'd just tried for them dinky singles I could've batted around .600." - Babe Ruth

"It ain't over til it's over." Yogi Berra

Besides the smell of hot dogs and fresh cut grass, there is so much to love about the game.
Baseball is a game played with a bat, ball and glove. The fundamentals of the game involve throwing the ball, hitting the ball, and catching the ball. Of course, the execution of these three tasks is more challenging than it sounds, and it is that challenge that compels baseball players to play the game.

Section by section,
the lights go out
until the field is dark,
and the ghosts of players
gone to other lives
long for another game
on that sweet diamond.

Editorial Note: Healthcare Products LLC reviews the news wires looking for press releases and current articles relating to Alzheimer's and dementia. We write a brief description of each article and by clicking on its heading will bring you to the originally written story ...hope you enjoy The Alzheimer's News...

(Source: Science Daily) - A new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center reviews research that suggests that the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease among older African Americans may be two to three times greater than in the non-Hispanic white population and that they differ from the non-Hispanic white population in risk factors and disease manifestation. The study results will be published in the April 7 issue of Health Affairs.

"The older African American population is growing at a rapid pace, and the burden of aging-related cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease will continue to present a tremendous challenge," said Lisa Barnes, PhD. "This study highlights the importance of research among minority groups within the communities in which hospitals serve."

Barnes is the primary author and director of the Rush Center of Excellence on Disparities in HIV and Aging in the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, and professor of Neurological Sciences and Behavioral Sciences at Rush University Medical Center.

"The lack of high-quality biologic data on large numbers of racial and ethnic minorities poses barriers to progress in understanding whether the mechanisms and processes of Alzheimer's disease operate the same or differently in racial and ethnic minorities and, if so, how, particularly in the high-risk African American population," said Barnes.

(Source: Health Day) - The scourge of dementia may come with a silver lining: Those with declining memory and thinking skills may be significantly less likely to die from cancer, new research indicates.

Analyzing more than 2,600 Spaniards over the age of 65, scientists found that people experiencing the fastest decline in mental skills were about one-third less likely to die of cancer over an average of 13 years.

The results echo those of numerous prior studies done worldwide suggesting an inverse relationship between Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Having one appears to markedly lower the odds of developing the other, though scientists don't yet know why that may be.

"I wasn't surprised by the results since there were other papers that suggested dementia decreased the risk of cancer," said study author Dr. Julian Benito-Leon, a staff physician in neurology at Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, in Madrid, Spain. "If, in the future, we could disentangle the mechanisms that trigger Alzheimer's disease, we could design and develop new and improved drugs that specifically damage cancer cells."

More than 5 million Americans are affected by Alzheimer's, and one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Meanwhile, cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States and accounts for one in every four deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.

(Source: Medical News Today) - Physical activity in midlife seems to protect from dementia in old age, according to a study carried out at the University of Eastern Finland. Those who engaged in physical activity at least twice a week had a lower risk of dementia than those who were less active. The protective effects were particularly strong among overweight individuals. In addition, the results showed that becoming more physically active after midlife may also contribute to lowering dementia risk.

Several modifiable risk factors for dementia have been suggested, but further refinement of this information is essential for effective preventive interventions targeted at high-risk groups. Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is a particularly important due to its broader effects on health in general and cardiovascular health in particular. Previous research has yielded inconsistent evidence on the association between LTPA and dementia, possibly because of short follow-up time, intensity of physical activity or population characteristics such as sex, body mass index, age or genetic risk factors of dementia.

Recent findings from the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE) Study demonstrated that those who engaged in leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) at least twice per week had lower risk of dementia in comparison to less active individuals. .

(Source: Kaiser Health News) - As states eye strategies to control the costs of caring for Alzheimer’s patients, a New York model is drawing interest, and findings from a study of Minnesota’s effort to replicate it shows it could lead to significant savings and improved services.

The New York University Caregiver Intervention (NYUCI) program offers caregivers six sessions of individual and family counseling within four months of enrollment, the opportunity to participate in a weekly support group and telephone counseling when needed. Minnesota mimicked that effort with a five-year pilot program offered to 228 participating caregivers in urban and rural areas.

The study, published in the April Health Affairs, found the Minnesota program could save $966 million by 2025 if it were implemented state-wide. Cost savings were mainly achieved by keeping Alzheimer’s patients in the community and at home. The authors found that 5 percent more people would stay in these settings if the project was expanded, and 19.3 percent fewer people with dementia would die in an institution.

Dementia Caregivers Guide: Teepa Snow's Positive Approach Techniques for Caregiving Alzheimer's and other forms of Dementia is a refreshing book full of pictures, understanding, and unique techniques that will grow appreciation of what is possible for individuals with advancing dementia.

Recipe Of The Week

Can a ham be a showstopper? Yes, and this one proves it. The sweet and spicy glaze and jewel-like cherries are what catch your eye. The depth of flavor is what convinces you. - Recipe From Kraft

Take a guess at these trivia questions ..answers will be posted in next week's newsletter
1. Which two teams were involved in the "thrown" 1919 World Series?

2. Who was the highest paid player in Major League Baseball from the 2013 season?

3. Name the top five foods eaten at baseball games?

**email your answers to contact@alzstore.com & include your name & address to be in the running for a free gift! Winner will be chosen at random at the beginning of each month... Thank you for participating in our trivia challenge!!

* The A4 Study is a clinical study for older individuals (ages 65-85) who have normal thinking and memory function but who may be at risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) memory loss sometime in the future. The A4 study is for people without any outward signs of Alzheimer's disease, and is designed to evaluate the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of an investigational drug for AD. The purpose of the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s study (the”A4 study” for short) is to test whether a new investigational treatment can slow the memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease. The overall goal of the A4 study is to test whether decreasing amyloid with antibody investigational treatment can help slow the memory loss associated with amyloid buildup in some people. The A4 Study lasts for three years, and participants will be assigned at random to receive either the investigational drug or a placebo and will be monitored over that period. / Learn more...

* NOBLE is a clinical study to evaluate an investigational drug for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Participants will receive the study drug or a placebo. During this study, if you are already taking Aricept or Namenda, you will probably continue to take it along with the study drug or placebo. Studies already done have shown that this investigational drug appears safe. It may work by protecting brain cells which would result in improved memory. But, this has not been proven yet. / Learn more...

* SNIFF - The purpose of the SNIFF study is to find out whether a type of insulin, when administered as a nasal spray, improves memory in adults with a mild memory impairment or Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The rationale behind the study is growing evidence that insulin carries out multiple functions in the brain and that poor regulation of insulin may contribute to the development of AD. Insulin resistance, reduced cerebrospinal fluid insulin levels, and reduced brain insulin signals have been found in AD patients, suggesting that a therapy aimed at correcting these deficiencies may be beneficial. Learn more...

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The Alzheimer's Store researches products that can assist caregivers in the daily management of their loved one who has Alzheimer's disease and other related dementias. We feel the products offered on our website help to reduce anxiety and agitation, a common side effect of the disease. If you have any products that you feel would be beneficial to the Alzheimer & dementia community, we encourage you to share them with us.